Sword of Honor by Thea AtkinsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
(Rating is More Like 3.5 of 5 stars)
A dystopian vision of the future as magic begins to return
Skye is a mercenary of sorts. She hires out to odd jobs in a world where barter is the currency. The world changed when one man decided that the Earth would be a better place without technology and set up a series of EMP devices to ensure that happened. When technology failed, magic started to return slowly at the margins of humanity. Without money and technology the world revolves around trading what you owned or a skill you had to get what you needed, sometimes bartering items you go in trade.
Skye doesn’t think of herself as a good person, but the people of New Denver think she is. She takes things in barter and makes sure they get to the people who need it the most, moving goods around subtly, without realising that her goodness is being witnessed by her community. She feels outside that community without realising that she may be at the heart of it.
The reason Skye doesn’t like herself is that she used to be a Ruby Skull. A member of Hunter’s judiciary. They travelled the country punishing the lawless without mercy. There was no room for compassion in the Ruby Skulls and Skye hated that. She ran away knowing that one day Hunter would track her down and make her pay for her desertion.
It seems that Hunter has come to punish her at last.
This is a story of sorrow, guilt and redemption. It is the story in the power of mercy over the ruthless application of the law and the power of kindness to heal a community.
The book is written fluidly and draws the reader in. Skye is an odd hero as internally she doesn’t feel like one and listening to her internal voice you might believe she isn’t a worthy hero either. But as her actions are uncovered you start to doubt her self image and see her more clearly. It’s a subtle process and cleverly executed. However, that dissonance between her internal voice and the view point of others meant that she kept herself isolated, which in turn made me, as a reader, feel disconnected from her as the protagonist. I think that might change in a second book as she begins to feel more connected to her community. We shall have to see, but I'm not sure if I will read it.
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